Fr Ennio Mantovani SVD 29 Mission and Inculturation Anthropology and Inculturation of Christianity in Papua New Guinea* This talk represents a small anthropological reflection on inculturation using the example of Papua New Guinea. First it is necessary to clarify the concepts. Under Anthropology I understand cultural anthropology, meaning the talk and reflection about the way a group lives, thinks and feels, how it organizes itself and relates to other groups, how it sees the world and reacts to it. Under inculturation I understand the taking roots of Christianity in a given culture, in a way that it becomes part of that culture and culturally expresses itself. Regarding New Guinea I will limit myself to the Simbu Province in the Central Highlands. Sinasina is a region in Simbu, while Mingende and Yobai are localities in this Province. Papua New Guinea belongs to Melanesia - the dark islands - therefore sometimes will I call the people of Papua New Guinea Melanesians. Experiences When I arrived 61 years ago I was sent to the Sinasina area to learn the language. I was lucky that exactly during that time a pig festival was taking place and I could take photos, slides and films of the feast. At the end it happened that by the great slaughter of pigs I had to play the role of the religious specialist. For somebody who had just arrived, it was quite a task. What is a pig feast? The pig feast is a very important, if not the greatest and fullest expression of the Simbu culture. All the values of the culture appear and are reinforced. The feast with the preparation, takes over two years. The initiation of the young males took place during this time. The dances, take place during the last part of the cycles and continue for weeks. At the end the pigs are slaughtered and distributed. I witnessed a pig feast in which in just half an hour more than 700 pigs were slaughtered. This gives an idea of how big such a feast can be. In order to better understand the pig kills that I witnessed one needs to know the history of the Simbu Region. The Simbu area was discovered only in 1934, and it was done by SVD missionaries who from the North Coast over the Bismarck range descended into the Simbu area. The Government came shortly after that from East to West into the Whagi valley into which the Simbu valley ends. The leader of the expedition, Fr. Alphons Schäfer SVD, during his studies in St Gabriel, had been introduced into anthropology by Members of the Anthropos Institute. This influenced to a high degree Schäfer’s attitude to the culture of the Simbus. As Schäfer came into the Simbu, he did not begin by preaching but lived among the people and spent time learning their language and culture. He was able to memorize the names of all the people he was in contact with. In Anthropos he wrote an article on the initiation in his area. However, it was not only the initiation that he studied. As he writes in his diary, he invited traditional specialists to use their knowledge in his garden. He wanted hear what they said, and see what they did. Eventually he used local melodies for the liturgy which scandalized his bishop who forbad it. Schäfer was able to convince him and traditional music became the rule for the Simbu. He respected the traditional way of dressing and became normal also in the church. If one knows how Europeans acted on this field this is remarkable. What I witnessed a pig feast in which in just half an hour more than 700 pigs were slaughtered. This gives an idea of how big such a feast can be.
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